


Upside Diaries (The Official Fanfiction)

by anyastasia



Category: Minecraft diaries - Fandom, aphmau - Fandom, mystreet
Genre: AU, Aphmau - Freeform, Minecraft Diaries, Multi, Mystreet - Freeform, Upside Diaries AU, Upside diaries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 14:17:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20098561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anyastasia/pseuds/anyastasia
Summary: You've seen it before -- an amnesiac woman wakes up in the forest, is led to a run-down village, and becomes the next great lord...but this time it's different.Aaron wakes up in the forest outside of the village of Phoenix Drop. He has no memory whatsoever of his past life or even his name. When the village takes him in, peculiar things start to happen...so peculiar that the village names him lord. Aaron has to go on quest after quest to save his village - and maybe himself, too.





	Upside Diaries (The Official Fanfiction)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tytheace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tytheace/gifts).

The forest was alive. Zoey was nearly certain. The trees swayed and whispered, and the birds seemed to follow her wherever she trekked. Cicadas in the trees fell quiet when she passed under their trees, and then continued their cacophony when she walked away.

The staff she carried seemed to get heavier with every step. Zoey glanced up at the top, although looking at it for too long gave her a headache. The glowing orb between the two stems of the staff gave off a faint, pulsing red light, like staring into the sun. The man who had given her the staff had told Zoey to place it somewhere that needed the help of Shad the Matron. She only knew one place that did - her sister's village. Phoenix Drop.

Phoenix Drop had befallen the same fate that most villages had faced - their lord was gone and nearly all of the villagers had left. But Zoey was mostly worried about her sister.

I_'m guessing that man meant the blessing of Shad_, Zoey thought. _For now, this is all I can do._

She had reached a clearing, green and grassy with a view of the sky. Zoey walked to the center of it, hefting the staff in her hands. Phoenix Drop was a short walk out of the forest, and surely this blessing would know where to go.

Zoey lifted the staff and then plunged it into the earth.

Cracks spread like a plague into the dirt, and the impact made Zoey stumble to the ground. The staff began to glow with an ethereal light. Soon it was too bright for Zoey to look at anymore. She scrambled to her feet and made ran pell-mell for the treeline, diving behind a tree trunk and peeking out from behind it.

The staff's red light swamped the area until Zoey couldn't even see the ground anymore. She squinted against the light as the staff and it's light disappeared - and were replaced by a man, lying on the ground.

Zoey's jaw dropped. _This_ was the blessing of Shad?

The man looked bedraggled as if he had been dragged through a thorn bush backward. His hair was tangled and a mess, and he wore nothing except white cloth wrapped around his waist. Strange black markings were on his arms, chest, ankles, and face. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

Zoey wondered if she was supposed to go over and wake him up. Should she have placed the staff inside of Phoenix Drop? How was this man supposed to help her sister?

She was about to slide out from behind the tree when she heard another person approaching. From the trees nearby emerged a guard, dressed in chainmail and a helmet. He wielded a sword, and his expression seemed sour. Zoey tensed as his gaze fell on the man.

"Hey!" the guard shouted, running over to the sleeping man. He unsheathed his sword swiftly and pointed it straight in his face. "Stand down!"

The man sluggishly raised his head, staring up at the guard with large black eyes.

_Where am I?_ The man thought groggily._ Who am I?_

"I said stand down!" The guard shouted again, thrusting the sword closer. The man blinked at him, and then he slumped back down to the ground.

The guard's aquamarine eyes widened, and he circled the man, poking him gently with the sword. When the man didn't wake up, the guard sheathed his sword, smirking under his helmet. "Enemy defeated," he said to himself.

"Gene!"

Gene whipped around as a second guard emerged from the treeline. This time it was a female. She wore a helmet that completely hid her face, and had a large diamond sword hanging at her waist. She stormed over, obviously aggravated.

"What have I told you about wandering off during patrol?" She exclaimed angrily. "You could get-"

She stopped short when she the man lying beside Gene. She snapped her head back to look at Gene.

"H-He was like this when I got here, Dame Lily!" Gene exclaimed. "I told him to surrender. And he just fainted!"

Lily breathed a drawn-out sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose through her helmet. "What have I told you, Gene," she said patiently, "about threatening people you find in the woods?"

"He was submissive!" Gene cried. "He didn't try to fight!"

"Look at him, Gene," Lily said. "He looks nearly half-starved. He could've been abused somewhere."

Gene cast a look back at the man. "Now that you mention it, he's practically naked."

Lily blushed underneath her helmet. "Give me your cape, Gene."

"W-What?" Gene asked, and then gasped as Lily ripped the cape off of his back. "What the hell?! I bought that with my own money!"

"Then buy another one," Lily said, wrapping the strange man up in the cape. "Carry him back to Phoenix Drop, please."

"WHAT?" Gene hollered as Lily began to walk away. "I-I'm not carrying-he might be-UGH!"

Gene begrudgingly picked the man up and threw him over his shoulder before stomping after Lily.

Behind the tree, Zoey pulled the mask she wore over her nose to hide her sniffling and disappeared into the undergrowth.

"It's only a matter of time before this village falls apart even further."

The strange man with no name very slowly opened his eyes. He was cold despite the few torches and open windows around him. Voices came from nearby, but he didn't seem to have the strength to turn his head.

Gene crossed his arms. He stood nearby where the man was sleeping, in from of Lily. "The lord and his family died! And we didn't recover any bodies. That's even worse! They're going to start blaming us!"

Lily sighed. It was something she did a lot. "Gene, the village needs time to repair itself," she said gently. "The villagers will come to their senses eventually."

Gene grumbled under his breath, and then his blue eyes sparkled. "Why don't we just use him?" He said excitedly, swinging an arm out to point at the man's unmoving form.

"Gene, don't drag anyone else into this," Lily warned. She uncrossed her arms. "He has nothing to do with this."

"All we have to do is claim all leads pointed to him," Gene explained. "None of the villagers have to know. We'll say he attacked us when we caught him! It's a genius plan! Besides, he's practically dead right now."

Gene strode over to the man's bedside and put his hands on his hips, looming over his sleeping form.

"Gene..." Lily growled in a warning tone.

"Look, he's not even waking up," Gene said smugly.

The man lunged forward, seized the dagger from Gene's belt, and thrust it into Gene's face.

"OH MY SHAD, HE'S ACTUALLY ATTACKING US!" Gene shouted, bounding away and behind Lily.

Lily's breath caught in her throat. The man had dark eyes, practically black, and he looked like a corned animal. His hands shook as he clutched the dagger like it was his only lifeline.

Lily cautiously stepped forward. "We mean you no harm," she said gently. To make her point clear, she unsheathed her diamond sword and laid it on the ground.

"Where...am I?" The man asked. His voice shook.

"You're in the village of Phoenix Drop," Lily explained. "My name is Dame Lily, the head guard of this village. This is my apprentice, Sir Gene."

"Don't tell him our names!" Gene hissed. His voice was loud.

"We have to have trust, Gene," Lily growled.

"You just said my name again!" Gene practically shouted.

Spooked by the noise, the man lunged towards Gene, but Lily seized her sword back from the ground and intercepted the man's strike. But the man kicked her in the chest, making her drop her sword, and hightailed it down the stairs.

"Gene, get him," Lily coughed, rolling over onto her side and learning how to breathe again. Gene scrambled down the stairs after the man.

The man vaulted down the last three steps and froze. A woman was shuffling in, her nose buried in a book. She looked up, green eyes widening and cat ears perking.

Lily rushed down the stairs, her chest still throbbing. "Michi!" she shouted. "Look out!"

The man thrust his dagger towards Michi's face. "I'll cut her!" he roared.

Michi let out a wail and threw her hands above her head. "I don't wanna die!" she cried.

"Sir, please, calm down," Lily begged, putting her hands up. "We don't want to hurt you."

The man's chest heaved, and his eyes look even more crazed. His gaze flicked between Michi and Lily. He looked uncertain.

"Just please, put down the knife," Lily begged.

The man seemed to relax, just by a minute bit. Another emotion besides fear came into his eyes - guilt. "You seem..." he murmured. "...familiar."

Lily breathed a sigh of relief as the man relaxed. But then the moment of sereneness was broken as Yip stumbled inside, ale sloshing around in his cup.

"I...got...some ale!" he gurgled loudly.

He had spooked the man. The man grabbed the book from Michi, who yelped, and chucked the book at Lily. She ducked, and the book got caught in the torch behind her. It immediately went up in flames.

"My book!" Sasha wailed.

The man sprinted out the door as Lily recovered. "After him!" She hissed.

Lily shot after the man as he ran through the streets of Phoenix Drop. The man was surprisingly fast. He was coming up on one of the wheat fields, where Ivy was poking at the soil with her shovel.

"Ivy!" Lily yelled. "Stop him!"

Ivy looked up, batting bubblegum pink hair out of her eyes. "Huh? me?"

"Just do it!" Lily shouted.

Ivy panicked and lunged at the man with the shovel. The man ran smack into it and tumbled to the ground, unmoving.

"H-Hey, I did it!" Ivy chirped, obviously proud of herself. But when she looked up, across the cobblestones, Alexis and Kiki stood watching her with their eyes wide, faces shocked.

"You hit him!" Kiki cried indignantly. "That's no way to treat a stranger!"

Ivy's crystal eyes widened. "N-No-I didn't-Lily-"

"We'll show you how to treat a stranger!" Alexis cried.

They vaulted over the fence and proceeded to beat Ivy into the ground, while the other woman was crying that it wasn't her fault.

Down the road, Lily sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

A while later, the man was asleep again on a bed in the guard station. Lily and Kiki stood at the foot of the bed, talking quietly.

"You just found her in the forest?" Kiki asked gently.

Lily nodded. She couldn't stop staring at the man. He was unmistakably handsome. Lily tore her eyes away towards Kiki.

Kiki was staring at him too. "He could've been abused," she murmured. "Or worse."

Lily sighed. "I know. Gene was talking about blaming the village's downfall on him."

Kiki shook her head, obviously distressed. "He needs his rest, with no stress. Why don't you go see what Gene's doing?"

Lily smiled softly. "Good idea. He's supposed to be clearing the rats out of the storehouses; I'm sure he's not." Lily walked down the stairs and out of the station.

Kiki turned back to the man and put her hands on her hips. "You can stop pretending to be asleep, now," she said.

The man slowly opened his eyes and looked over at Kiki. he still looked afraid.

Kiki smiled. "No need to be afraid now, honey. It's just me and you. Here, I made you some soup before I came here. It might be a little cold."

The man slowly sat up as Kiki handed him the bowl of soup. He took it, and then drank a long sip of it.

"Hungry, aren't you?" Kiki chided. "Good. My name's Kiki. What's your name?"

The man drew the bowl away from his lips a little and swallowed. He just stared at Kiki without speaking.

"Not much of a talker, are we, huh?" Kiki asked. "That's fine too. Can you at least tell me where you're from?"

The man opened his lips the tiniest bit.

"I...I don't know," he croaked.

Kiki's green eyes widened. "See, there we go! Now we're talking - literally. Now can you tell me your name?"

The man hesitated. He glanced around like he was trying to remember.

"Aaron," he said at last. His voice was low and throaty.

"Aaron?" Kiki asked. "That's your name?"

Aaron nodded, taking an uncertain sip of his soup.

"Alright, Aaron," Kiki said. "I think I know someone who might help us figure out your past. Follow me."

Aaron shakily stood up and followed Kiki out of the guard station, feeling conscious to the fact that he was only wearing a cloth around his waist. He followed Kiki through the town into an old, run-down plaza.

At one of the stalls stood two men - one a young guard with white hair and amber eyes, the other a significantly older man with white hair and white stubble dusting his chin.

"Rowan!" Kiki called, scampering over to the older man. The man, Rowan, turned at his name and smiled at Kiki.

"Kiki!" he called, sweeping her up in big strong arms and twirling her a little. Kiki laughed as he set her down.

"I thought you would be gone by now, off to Meteli or somewhere," Kiki chided.

Rowan shook his head. "No, not yet. I'll stay for a few more days."

Kiki smiled and then turned to the young guard. "Hi, Lowell. Sorry about your dad earlier."

The boy's face went a little pink, and he smiled. His cheeks were plump. "It's okay. Sir Yip has always been a drunkard."

"Well, look at you calling your dad sir," Kiki said, giggling. "Now Rowan, take a look at my friend here."

Kiki looked behind her at Aaron, who inched forward. Kiki took his arm gently and held it out for Rowan to see.

"These markings ring a bell to you?" Kiki asked.

Rowan studied the black marks for a moment before shaking his head. "Never seen anything like it. What's your name, young man?"

Aaron stuttered for a moment. "A-Aaron."

"Aaron? Well, I'm Rowan, but you can just call me R. A friend of Kiki's is a friend of mine."

Kiki smiled again. "He doesn't remember anything, R. I was thinking he may be a lost prince somewhere."

R laughed. "Every young man is a prince - no, if he breathes, he's a king."

Aaron felt his cheeks heating up at the comment.

"Wait right here," R said, ducking behind one of the stalls. He came out a moment later with a bundle of clothes. Handing them to Aaron, he smiled. "Go ahead and put them on."

Aaron regarded the clothes for a moment, before pulling them on. It consisted of a lacy white shirt, a black lace-up jacket, and black shorts. He felt better once he covered himself up.

"Aw, R, you don't even give me nice clothes," Kiki teased.

R smiled a little. "Kiki, I need to talk to you. About the merchant's guild."

Kiki's eyes widened. "Oh. Yes. Um, Lowell, can you take Aaron around the village?"

Lowell nodded a little as Kiki walked away with R. He and Aaron stared at each other for a moment before he snapped back into reality.

"I-I have to go help Dame Lily and Sir Gene," he explained hurriedly. "Um. Do you mind going with me?"

"O-Okay," Aaron mumbled, not having much of a choice in this situation. He followed Lowell back through the streets of Phoenix Drop, to a small secluded grove where an old, run-down house stood - more or less. In front of it stood Lily and Gene.

"Dame Lily!" Lowell called to Lily as they walked down the slope of the hill towards them. Lily turned around and was surprised to see the mysterious man clothed and walking behind Lowell.

"Our guest is awake," she noticed. Gene muttered something unintelligible and turned away. "It's good to see you're feeling better, sir."

Aaron nodded shyly at the ground.

"He says his name is Aaron, Dame Lily," Lowell explained. "Kiki brought him to Rowan a while ago, but he didn't know about the markings."

"Aaron," Lily murmured, trying the name out on her tongue. "Not foreign, but who knows. So you haven't figured out anything about the markings?"

Aaron shook his head swiftly. Now he dared to look up at Lily and Gene.

Lily smiled at him, but then remembered he wouldn't be able to see it. "Gene wanted to tell you something, Aaron."

"I did?" Gene questioned, and then grunted when Lily elbowed him in the ribs. "Oh, yes. I-I did." He rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. "I'm...sorry...for threatening you in the guard station." He spoke the words like there were thorns attached to them.

"Your apology is...accepted," Aaron said, and Lily couldn't tell if it was just her imagination, but he might've had a coy tone.

"At last, he speaks," Lily observed as Kiki came down the path.

"Kiki, do you want to take Aaron to Michi?" Lily asked. "She is the village scholar, after all. Maybe she'll know about the markings."

Kiki put her hands on her hips. "That's smart. Don't know why I didn't think of that."

"Your meeting wasn't very long," Aaron said suddenly, training his raven eyes on the redhead. "Did it go well?"

Kiki laughed. "Look at you, getting a little bit bolder. I'll tell you about it later. For now, we're going to Michi's house. Thanks, Lily."

Kiki began to walk away and Aaron followed but stopped when Lily called after him. Turning, he slowly looked up to meet her hidden eyes.

"For what's it's worth, I'm glad you're feeling better," Lily said. wondering what the fluttering in her stomach meant.

Aaron stared at her for a moment, and then gave her a small smile that made his whole face light up, and followed Kiki.

Kiki led her to a small house and went right inside, not bothering to knock. Aaron's heart sank when he recognized the inhabitant - the poor Meif'wa whose book he had burned.

Michi stood up from her couch and put her hands on her hips indignantly. "Why in the name of Shad did you bring him here?" she spat.

Kiki grabbed Aaron's arm and thrust it forward. "Do you recognize these markings?"

Michi glanced at Aaron hesitantly, as if she expected him to lunge at her. But he stood still as she took his arm and inspected it.

She shook her head. "I've never seen anything like it. Have you asked those girls at that brothel you run?"

Kiki's face flushed red. "My house is not a brothel!"

Michi rolled her eyes. "Say what you want. Now get out; I won't have book burners in my house."

"What's a book?" Aaron piped out.

Michi gasped like she was dying and clutched her chest. Her ears pricked so far forward that they trembled.

"YOU don't know what a BOOK is?" Michi wheezed. "Why, they're the most beautiful things in existence! You can find any answer in a book!"

"Can a book answer why I don't have memories?" Aaron quipped. Kiki raised her eyebrows.

Michi stumbled with words for a moment. "Well-no-but I have books on amnesia!" She blurted. "My library is just a tiny fraction of the knowledge in Ru'uan. You should see the library in Scaleswind-"

"Michi, Aaron will be lodging here for a few days," Kiki said suddenly.

"What?" Both Aaron and Michi exclaimed.

"He'll stay here until he had proper accommodations," Kiki said sternly. "That means you have to be nice to him, Michi," she added.

"Noooo!" Michi whined, stamping her foot. "I don't want him here! He'll burn my books!"

Aaron wilted into himself a little, and Kiki glared at Michi. "Michi, no more questions," she hissed. "It'll only be for a little while. He'll be out in no time."

"But-but-" Michi tried, but Kiki was already walking away.

"Sleep well, Aaron," Kiki said. "I'll come to get you in the morning, yes?"

With that encouraging statement, Kiki slammed the front door.

Aaron and Michi shared an unsteady glance before Michi sighed and stomped over to another room. "You can sleep on the carpet," she hissed. "I'll get you a blanket." Rummaging around in a closet for a moment, she pulled out a scratchy-looking blanket and spread it over the carpet.

"I'm going to sleep," she said. "And if I find ANY of my books ruined, I will not hesitate to send you to Kiki's brothel!"

Michi walked up to the stairs, and Aaron stood by the carpet for a while. Finally, he took off his jacket and stashed it on a nearby chair. He snuggled under the blankets, and with a furnace crackling nearby, he slipped into a snug sleep.

The town was a mess. Aaron hadn't properly seen the fields when he had been walking around yesterday, but now he saw how bad they looked. Weeds and dead, scorched plants sprouted up where wheat and flowers probably once grew. Aaron walked into one of the plots, on tiptoe to not get pricked by any of the burrs that hid in the high grass. Making his way over to a corner, he inspected it. Dry, crackly grass grew here, along with some wildflowers and tall, prickly weeds with purple flowers here and there.

Crouching down, Aaron hid amongst the dry stalks and placed his hand on the crunchy soil. Newfound energy flooded through him as his fingertips dug into the earth as if the dirt had given him strength. A small gasp escaped his lips as he felt a burst of hot wind, blowing dirt and grit into his face. Squeezing his eyes shut, he dug his hand farther into the dirt.

His skin began to heat up, and he opened his eyes as the markings on his skin began to glow white. Somehow, he felt serenely calm, as if this was something he did often. It felt right, even.

Aaron watched as the dry stalks crumbled into dust and the wildflowers died. Green grass spread from his fingertips. It swamped the weeds and thistles until he had made a semicircle of fresh, alive, green grass.

He bolted upright, suddenly. That moment of peace had left him as he stared at his dirty hands, the markings on his fingers glowing ethereally. His eyes were wide, panicked.

"What...did you do?"

Aaron whirled around, his heart sinking.

It was Dame Lily. She had seen the whole thing.

_What have I done?_

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone!!! welcome to the OFFICIAL fanfiction of upside diaries!! if you're unfamiliar, it's an AU a few friends of mine came up with. I didn't help much in the actual brainstorming, I'm just here to make art of it and write this fanfiction. this will be following the story of the rebirth of diaries, so that means updates will be weekly (hopefully) after each episode. for now, though, I have to play a game of catch-up to get to the current episode, which right now is episode 4. 
> 
> stay tuned and tysm for reading! <3


End file.
